TSMC will start building A7 chips for the iPhone 6 in 2014, once an Apple contract with Samsung expires in June, claims Taiwanese publication the Economic Daily News. Samsung has so far been responsible for producing all of Apple's A-series processors, at a facility in Austin, Texas. The two companies have become increasingly hostile towards each other however, and several reports have indicated that TSMC will eventually take over some or all A-series work.
The A7 will reportedly take advantage of TSMC's 20nm manufacturing process. One problem though is that if the A7 is only set to debut in 2014, that leaves questions about the 2013 iPhone, typically referred to as the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5 already uses an A6, and the A6X is in the fourth-generation iPad. An alternative is that Samsung might produce some A7 chips this year, but eventually turn over work to TSMC.
